History and Future
What is Forestry Conclave?
In 1957 the University of Georgia initiated and hosted the first annual Forestry Conclave. The purpose of Conclave, which
means confidential or private meeting, was to promote cooperation and friendly competition among forestry schools
across the Southeast. Just as importantly, it was meant to establish and maintain a high standard of ethics among
students and professional foresters. Eight Southern forestry schools were involved in that first Conclave with less
than 100 students competing in events such as archery, axe-throwing, pole climbing, log rolling, bow sawing, log birling,
and cross-cut saw competition.
Today the Forestry Conclave has grown to include 15 southern forestry schools and more than 250 contestants. The events are composed of the traditional physical events, as well as technical events such as dendrology, timber volume estimation, photogrammetry, wood identification, and others.